Roads department approves traffic calming measures

A FOUR-year plea to implement traffic calming measures on Ridley Park Road in Malvern has yielded results after the roads department finally gave it the go ahead. The first e-mail correspondence that engaged city officials dates back to Tuesday, 14 February 2012 when a resident raised their concerns of speeding drivers on the road.

“You might think that no signage is necessary. We are telling you that it is necessary. Drivers turn off Stella Road into Ridley Park Road and blatantly speed down the hill. They ignore the fact that ‘all urban roads are covered by the general speed limit of 60km/h’,” wrote Tina Yeo. At the time of sending the e-mail, Yeo said she had lived in the area since the age of 8 and was 51 years old then, during when the speed limit was 40km/h and had witnessed it gradually increase to 50km/h and finally 60km/h. “I have deliberately driven behind cars turning into Ridley Park Road and had to put my foot down on the accelerator to keep up with them. They were doing 100ks by the time I had reached Becton Drive. I went back up and turned down again and to keep at 60km/h as you crest from Stella into Ridley Park Road, I had to brake to keep my car from going over 60km/h,” she noted.

The lengthy e-mail, with the intervention of former Queensburgh councillor, André Mitchell, reiterates the need for speed limit signage. “I think the cost of putting up the signage, paid for by the ratepayer, is reasonable because some people from other suburbs are not aware that this general rule also applies in Queensburgh, because our bylaws are still not consolidated with yours in Durban,” he stated. Mitchell added that on Sunday morning, 5 May 2013 at around 8.30am, one of three girls, aged 12 years, on her way to church, was hit by a speeding motorist with three passengers in the car, while under the influence of alcohol in Ridley Park Road, near Dipdale Road intersection. “Her arm and pelvis have been injured. She is back in the Malvern Children’s Home after spending a couple of days in hospital. Are you now waiting for someone to die first before having speed timing operations after 20 years in Ridley Park Road?” he said.

After years of back and forth correspondence, the roads department finally gave the project the go ahead. “The city is currently surveying the area in question. The design process will only follow thereafter. Regulatory approvals will also be sought as part of the preliminary design process. There are at least three traffic circles being proposed. However, this project is not for the 2016/17 financial year,” said eThekwini Municipality Head of Communications Unit, Tozi Mthethwa.